Thirty-eight of the most respected retired generals and admirals have urged the US Senate to close Guantanamo Bay. America’s most notorious military detention facility has reached its 12th anniversary, despite pressure and promises to shut it down.

In a letter to American senators, the retired generals and
admirals wrote that they believe it is “imperative” for Congress
to address Guantanamo.

“We have always believed that our detention policies should
adhere to the rule of law, and that we as a nation are more
secure when we do. Guantanamo is a betrayal of American values.
The prison is a symbol of torture and justice delayed,” the
letter reads.

Reporting from inside Guantanamo Bay, RT’s Anastasia Churkina
explained what may be in store for the prison, which has already
survived global scrutiny and dealt with torture scandals and
hunger strikes.

A total of 779 detainees have been held at Guantanamo Bay since
it was established on November 13, 2001, just two months after
the 9/11 terror attacks. Today, 164 people remain. Over half of
them have been long cleared for release, but remain locked up. A
total of six people are currently under trial.

“It’s the policy of the US not to hold anyone longer than
necessary, but we also know that whenever we release someone, we
assume a risk,” Captain Robert Durand, Guantanamo’s director
of public affairs, told RT.

Over a period of more than a decade, the majority of detainees
held in the facility have been set free.

“If the men at Guantanamo were really these super-human
monsters, ‘the worst of the worst’ to quote Dick Cheney, they
wouldn’t have been released,” Guantanamo defense lawyer Ramzi
Kassem said.

Most of those still locked up have not been charged and are being
held indefinitely.

“What sort of a black hole of a limbo are we existing in,
where the President of the United States simply refuses to say
they’re innocent,” former detainee Moazzam Begg said.

‘It’s very easy to end Gitmo, but only the president can do it’

However, US officials say that the law of war reigns behind the
barbed wire.

“The idea is that in a war, when you capture folks, you as a
capturing authority are permitted to hold people during the
duration of hostilities. When hostilities end, or if there is no
longer any legitimate purpose to hold the men, they must be
released,” Guantanamo detainee lawyer Martha Rayner.

But the war on terror has no geographic borders, with men once
held in Gitmo repatriated to a wide array of countries.

“The rules that are applied in Guantanamo are only specific to
Guantanamo. You couldn’t even have a Guantanamo case heard on the
US mainland, because it would be unconstitutional and
illegal,” a former inmate by the name of Begg said.

The war on terror also has no end in sight, and national security
is used as an excuse to ignore the law, according to Kassem.

“Despite the rhetoric, it really isn’t about national
security, or prisoners being so dangerous that they can’t
possibly be released,” he said. That just “can’t be
true.”

After being locked up, the legal process moves at a glacial pace.

According to Captain Durand, last year “five detainees were
transferred, two had completed their military commission
sentence, two were court ordered released detainees who had been
repatriated, and one was a suicide.”

Over the years, there have been countless detainee claims of
mistreatment and abuse, as well as the loss of patience and hope.
Prisoners have undergone mass hunger strikes, and dozens have
attempted suicide. Just this year, the majority of the prison
population refused to eat for six months straight, prompting
Guantanamo medical staff to force-feed them.

Washington has appointed a new envoy to close the prison camp
after a mass hunger strike returned the world’s attention to the
place that some have dubbed the “Gulag of our times.”

“It’s very easy to end Guantanamo. You release the men that
you are not prosecuting. As you said, only six men are being
prosecuted right now. The military prosecutor has made clear that
he intends to prosecute a few more, but he has also made clear
that it won’t be more than a few more,” Rayner told RT.

President Barack Obama promised to close the notorious facility
on the first day of his presidency. He is now in his second term.

“It’s only a president who can do it. The idea that it’s the
Congress’ fault is just not correct,” Rayner
said. “It is the president that is holding these
men in detention.Some president has to come in and
end this.”

For now, it remains unclear how long the American military
detention center, which is located on Cuban soil, will remain
open.